Billy Graham: When money is your only goal, you’re on the wrong track

DEAR BILLY GRAHAM:When our family got together over the holidays we began talking about what we wanted out of life, and one of my cousins answered with one word: money. I guess I’ve never thought about this much, except to be happy. Is my cousin on the right track? Should this be my goal, too? — K.T.

DEAR K.T.: No, your cousin is not on the right track (assuming his answer was sincere). Being totally absorbed with money leads to greed and blinds us to things that ought to be important to us also (such as our families).

Money has its rightful place, of course, and it’s not necessarily wrong to want to do well and prosper in our careers. But when money becomes our only goal, it takes over our lives and crowds out everything else.

It also feeds our desire for power and causes us to ignore the needs of others, using them instead for our own selfish desires.

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The Bible warns, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.… You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

But what should your goal be in life? Instead of casting around and trying to come up with something that seems to interest you, let me suggest a far better way: Seek God’s goal for your life. God made you and put you here for a purpose, to serve him and live for him.

Begin by turning to Jesus Christ, asking him to forgive your sins and come into your life. Then seek God’s will every day, in both small things and big things. In addition, pray for your cousin, that he may realize he’s presently on a dead-end road, and may give his life to Christ.